Telegraph Herald - Dubuque, IA


 
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Cyclones' bowl standing takes hit
The loss leaves ISU bowl eligible, but not clinched, at 6-6.
BY R.B. FALLSTROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud is hit by Missouri's Will Ebner as he throws a pass Saturday in Columbia, Mo. Missouri won the Big 12 game, 34-24.
Photo by: L.G. Patterson
Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud is hit by Missouri's Will Ebner as he throws a pass Saturday in Columbia, Mo. Missouri won the Big 12 game, 34-24.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Danario Alexander broke one of Jeremy Maclin's records with another big day. He expects the rest of the Philadelphia Eagles' wide receiver's year-old marks to fall before his huge senior season is done.

"I told him I want to get them all," Alexander said after helping Missouri end a three-game home losing streak in a 34-24 victory over Iowa State on Saturday. "I'm not sure if that'll happen, but I'll just try to play my best."

Alexander had 11 catches for 173 yards and a 63-yard score, surpassing single-season and career yardage records set by Maclin last season. In his last three games, Alexander has 34 catches for 578 yards and five touchdowns, reaching double digits in receptions all three games.

"You talk about a creature," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "Just athletically, compared to almost anybody, he just stands out. He's such a remarkable athlete."

Iowa State tried double- and triple-teaming Alexander, with no success. Coach Paul Rhoads compared Alexander to a Hall of Fame running back and 100-meter world record-holder Usain Bolt.

"He's got a little Jim Brown in him," Rhoads said. "You look at him on the field and you think he's done and not going to be able to play this play very fast, then he comes out of the blocks like the Olympic guy from Jamaica."

Alexander has 1,411 yards receiving, shattering Maclin's total of 1,260 as a sophomore last year before leaving for the NFL. He's 10 catches shy of Maclin's record of 102 receptions, and has 2,408 career yards receiving, passing Maclin for third on the school career list.

He unsuccessfully lobbied for a chance at a third straight 200-yard game, which would tie the NCAA record.

"I said, 'Coach, I need one catch and I'll get it,'" Alexander said. "But we got the victory, and that's all that counts."

Iowa State (6-6, 3-5) led, 17-10, at halftime after Austen Arnaud's 38-yard pass to Darius Darks with 26 seconds left.

Jackson outran the coverage on his catch, which tied it at 17-17 early in the second half. About four minutes later, Alexander split defenders who appeared to have an angle on him and won a foot race.

Blaine Gabbert was 23 for 32 for 337 yards and two touchdowns and had 51 yards on 12 carries, helping fill the void after Derrick Washington sustained a concussion in the second quarter. De'Vion Moore's 1-yard run with 4 minutes 43 seconds to go gave Missouri a 10-point cushion before season-low attendance of 55,573.

Iowa State scored on a pair of trick plays, a 10-yard option pass by wide receiver Alexander Robinson to Jake Williams in the first quarter and a 12-yard run by 338-pound tackle Scott Haughton off a lateral pass from Arnaud in the third quarter to make it 24-24. A third trick play, a fake field goal with holder Derec Schmidgall trying to run for the first down, was stuffed for no gain in the second quarter.

The Cyclones allowed 539 yards, a season high for Missouri, one week after clamping down on Colorado for a 17-10 victory that made them bowl-eligible for the first time since 2005.

"We've been very good about not giving up big plays," Rhoads said. "In the second half, uncharacteristically, we go out and give up two large plays."

Missouri was 17-2 at home from 2006-08, and the three-game losing streak was the school's first since 2004. The Tigers haven't dropped more than three in a row at home since 1993-94 when they lost seven straight.

Darks had a season-best 107 yards on nine catches for Iowa State, but was held to 22 yards on five receptions in the second half.


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